School Improvement
Arianna Garcia
College of Western Idaho
ENG 102-011W
Leslie Jewkes
May 6, 2013
Abstract
The goal we are trying to reach is to better our education system for everyone. In order to do so we need to look at each other and figure out what we can do to contribute. Of course the ideal solution to strengthen the system would be for more funding. That is not always possible. There are however, other areas we can focus on and start improving today.
All over the globe we see children’s education suffering. An issue playing a large rule in this crisis is students who live in rural and areas of high poverty. Students living in these areas suffer in their education the most and are most likely to be out of school (UNDP). The education system needs to be worked on; that is an obvious. It is important though to realize that we cannot depend on others to do it for us. Nor should we believe it is a goal that can be achieved solo. Changes for strengthening our school systems can start right at home. While the major issue in the education system stems from the lack of funding; we can focus on other areas of the system like parent, teacher, and community involvement. Fixing the global funding of schools would be most ideal, but in the meantime parents can help their students get the most out of the current system.
According to William H. Jeynes, professor at California State University, conducted a meta-analysis of parent involvement and how it affects them academically. Altogether he had 77 tests. The end results were: those with high levels of parent involvement scored higher when it came to academic tests (Jeynes). Jeynes also found through the tests and results was that they were not bias towards minorities. Parents being involved in students’ academic studies will motivate students to do their best. Having the latest in technology or new textbooks in the classroom will not be all important. Students will feel the need to go out and excel with the sources that are available to them. Of course the increase of parent involvement will never have a negative impact on students; researchers believe parent involvement will decrease as resources become available (Conway &Houtenville 440). According to Karen Conway, an economics professor at University of New Hampshire, and her colleague Andrew Houtenville, and their study of parent involvement; found schools with little resources will have greater involvement. Conway and Houtenville found measuring the amount of academic success, schools would need to increase funding to about one- thousand dollars per student in order to receive similar results on academic progress (Conway & Houtenville 441). What we want to remember is children all over the world are our next leaders. So if we can make up for lack of funding with parent involvement; we should take that opportunity.
While it is important to continue to work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal of providing education for children everywhere by the year 2015(UNDP); we have to accept it may not possible. Jessica Shepherd, education correspondent for the Guardian, reported that in the year 2010 there was still seventy million student still out of school across the global (Shepherd). Majority of the out of school student is from the world’s poorest countries like north-Africa.
In areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, it would be hard for parents to be involved with their students’ academic work. If they were able to help, there is no question about it they would. The problem adults are faced with places like Sub-Saharan Africa are that most adults will not have completed more than primary schooling. According to researchers for the Global Campaign for Education, “in sub-Saharan Africa, forty-eight percent of children do not complete primary school and only one country in the region sends more than half its children to secondary school” (GCFE 3). Fitness for Africa Organization shows that the total population of literacy in Uganda is only 66.8 %. Here is a map showing results in Africa.
For students living in such areas; hope of completing school and not living in poverty is very slim. If the level of education can change then the future of such countries can change forever. The school systems may not always be where we would like them to be, but if we start funding areas now then current students can grow up and help further lower poverty. We need to start somewhere. The Millennium Development Goals are the best chance we have in ending poverty. In the report “Back to School” it shows that rich governments whom have promised to help poor governments have failed (GCFE 2). Some countries have taken it upon themselves to try to better education system within their own funding. China’s government in the past two decades has changed their funding policies eight times (Wei 115). There are organizations that have been designed and dedicated to working on education issues only.
Action Aid is one of those organizations. They started out sponsoring students, then moved on to funding schools. They realized that was not the solution they needed to go deeper to the problem; the community. In northern Nigeria the organization Action Aid found that funds were being given to the schools but not necessarily reaching the schools (Odida). What Action Aid representatives decided to do was work with the communities to schools to create a management system, Basically what it consisted of was school administrators, teachers, and parents, would vote a council to control the funding. It would be a group decision as to what and when funds would be released. This way communities members can insure the funds are being properly used.
Steps are being taken in the correct direct to strengthening the system, but we need to remember to move forward. In order to do so we need to come together as a whole and work together on overcoming the education crisis. Besides funding though there are other ways to educating our students. It starts will us; let’s not fail our students.
Works Cited
Action Aid Organization. (2013). Education. United States: Author.
Fitness for Africa. (2012). Adult Literacy Project. Uganda.
Global Campaign for Education. (2010). Back to School. South Africa. Shaharazad Abuel-Ealeh, Sam Barratt, John Coventry, Lucia Fry, George Harris, David Hollow.
Houtenville, J. Andrew. And Karen Smith Conway. “Parental Effort, School Resources, and Student Achievement.” Academic Search Complete. 43(2), 438-445. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/news/docs/Conway_May08.pdf
Jeynes, William H. "Parental involvement and student achievement: A meta-analysis, Family Involvement Research Digest.” Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project. Cambridge, MA. 2005. 19, April. 2013.
Odida, Ovonji Irene. (Wise Summit). 20, December 2011. Eminent Voices (Video File). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q6228_pvWog
Shepherd, Jessica. “70 Million Children Get no Education, Says Report.” The Guardian. 20. Sept. 2010.Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/20/70m-get-no-education
Wei, H. (2008). The characteristics of China’s compulsory education funding policy change, 1986–2006. Frontiers of Education in China, 3(1), 115-122. http://web.ebscohost.com.cwi.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=dd1f0fa9-75e3-4817-b955-1fb7d4f858f0%40sessionmgr111&vid=3&hid=123
"Where Do We Stand?" United Nations Development Programme. N.p., 02 July 2012. Web. 18 Apr 2013.
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